Crikey, I just read this: “Defense Spooks: Let’s Control Enemy Minds” and am incensed! Can any weapon be ethical, let alone one that impairs your enemies’ ability to respond?? I agree with some of the comments there, including ZenDraken, who said:
“On the other hand, here’s a thought experiment: What if we had a truly non-lethal, non-destructive weapon that simply caused the enemy to lay down their arms and surrender? Would it be unethical for us to use such a weapon? Or would it be unethical for us to *not* use such a weapon?”
Indeed, a tricky one, I think – in the light of my “all weapons are unethical” generalisation, perhaps…? Who knows? I would say “I can’t argue with myself”, but, knowing me, I probably could!
Obviously, it would be unethical to instigate your enemy to surrender, and then to take advantage of that by taking control where it had been relinquished. However, to ‘enable’ an attacking enemy to withdraw, so that you can go about your peaceful, lawful business, might be a different matter. But, where do you draw the line? who do you consider ‘attackers’: those who disagree with your beliefs? those who are campaigning for you to change your beliefs? and/or those who might/will/are trying to harm you for your beliefs?
Who am I to preach to another how they should live their lives? There are so many diverse cultures (eg different religions, indigenous tribes) in this world, all with the right to live within their beliefs. OK, that sounds reasonable. But, what if those beliefs include animal sacrifice? control of a particular section of society? human sacrifice? child abuse? The ‘western/capitalist world’ claims to be ‘civilised’, but also seems to have many faults, one of which is, perhaps, being overly judgemental of others (both within and without the ‘western world’).
Therefore, why should the ‘western world’ presume to try and preach to others – maybe it is us who’ve been wrong all along, and we should keep our noses out of other people’s business, instead of trying to impose our beliefs on people and situations where ‘western beliefs’ are inappropriate.
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